Katya
by Kari-chan-06
Summary: What if Kate and Gibbs had met before their job at NCIS, but none of them realizes? What if there is a part of her past she doesn´t have any memory of?
1. Flashback

Katya -Chapter 1: Flashback

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

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21 year-old Jethro Gibbs crouched behind the rock and listened to the sounds around him. It was about two hours after nightfall and they had been tipped off that the serbian guerilla would ambush the small town of Tivatira tonight. He sat there, above the town, his gun in his hands and waited. A mere hour later, screams and shots sounded from the valley below and his seargant gave the order to march in. All worries and thoughts retreated into the back of his head as he remembered his training. He wanted to save the lives of innocent people tonight, even if he had to kill for that. Following the rest of his group, he stormed into the town.

They were too late, he could see that at once. There were bodies lying in the street -women and children, most in their nightgowns. Blood everywhere. Screams came from burning houses, but he knew it was for late for them. "Nobody here -main street secured." One of the men yelled to the commander. Gibbs stood against a wall, still trying to remain alert inspite of the sounds of death around him. A thick smoke filled the air -it was yellowish and grey. It smelled awful, like burning hair and flesh. A part of him started to feel sick, but the most part remained motionless, waiting for a command. "Everyone, check the houses for survivors, only take those who have a chance, then get back to the meeting point." The sound of the seargant´s voice echoed through the streets.

Gibbs checked the street with a quick glance, then listened carefully. He heard sobs coming from somewhere ahead of him. It sounded like a child crying. He made his way through the debris until he stood in front of a house that had been destroyed by fire. The wooden construction had given way and collapsed the stone walls. He still heard the crying, which seemed to come from under the debris. "Is somebody in there?" He called, but there was no answer, just a sobbing sound. He started to pull stones away. Some had metal in them and he cut his hand. Ignoring his own blood dripping onto his uniform, he continued as the sounds became louder.

A few minutes later, he found what he had been looking for. A child, lying beneath the debris. It was a girl of about 3 or 4 years of age. Her brown hair was burnt and there was blood on her face, but she looked at him with dark brown eyes. There was no fear in them, just pain. He lifted her up and set her down on the road. She was crying in pain and he saw that both of her legs were broken. "Don´t cry, sweetheart, we´ll help you." He said and put his hand on her head to calm her. "Rogers, I´ve got a girl, she´s alive." He called out to his colleagues.

They brought her back to their military camp, but the doctors found that she had to have surgery on her legs, which could only be done at a US base. The little girl started to scream when someone came close to her and Jethro was the only one whom she would allow near. He volunteered to accompany her to the United States as his service in Croatia was over anyway. He learned that her name was Katya and that she was 3 years old at this point.

Surgery was complicated and she was put into a med-induced coma for a few days. Afterwards, it seemed like she didn´t remember any of the events in Croatia, which the specialists said was normal for such a traumatic event. They said that she would never remember. She was adopted by one of the surgeons and her family told her that she had fallen down the stairs when she was 3 years old because she could not remember anything prior to that. She grew up without ever recalling anything from her past, but no one knew if it would stay like this forever.

Gibbs kinda forgot about the events and moved on, first becominggunnery sergeantin the marine corps, then transferring to NCIS as a special agent. He was assigned a unique team of agents, one of them transferring from Washington Police Department, a certain Anthony Dinozzo, who was a specialist for crime scene investigation and homicides. Second one was Caitlin Todd, a former agent of the Secret Service, who had been working at the White House at times. The three of them were a good team right from the start, though Dinozzo and Todd constantly argued about quite unimportant things.

Gibbs smiled as he looked down into the bullpen. They had been together as a team for two years now and Timothy McGee had come to join them half a year back. Gibbs looked into the empty office behind him. On the desk lay an open envelope. It held an answer to a series of questions, some much older than a month, but it had only been a month since it all began.


	2. Family matters

Katya -Chapter 2: Family matters

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

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-Four weeks earlier-

Gibbs stood near the bulletin board when he noticed Kate talking on the phone. She seemed upset and suddenly stormed out of the bullpen. He shot a questioning look at Dinozzo, but Tony just shook his head. Gibbs followed her and found her in an empty office. She was crying, but tried to hide her tears when he came in. "Kate?" He asked tentatively and waited for her reaction.

"I´ll be back at my desk in a minute, okay?" She said and he could hear that she was upset. Instead of leaving her for herself for a moment, he stepped into the room and closed the door. "Please..." She pleaded, but he stayed.

Jethro sat down on the edge of the desk for a moment. He wasn´t very good at playing counselor or at showing emotions, but he felt that she needed someone to talk to. "What´s the matter, Kate?" He asked again and this time, she looked up.

"My dad is sick -doctor´s say it´s leukemia. He needs a bonemarrow transplant or he´ll die." She finally said, her voice calm, but still tears in her eyes. He knew that there had to be more about it. After all, her mother had died of cancer only a year ago, which she had taken rather well.

"Did they register him on the national transplant list?" Gibbs asked, not because he thought they would have forgotten, but to keep her talking. He sensed that she was slowly getting to the point, but she needed help to reach it.

She nodded and finally sat down on the desk next to him, staring onto the floor. "They did...I went in to have my blood tested, you know? They said that relatives will match in most cases. Especially children." He nodded, but didn´t interrupt her. "That call I just got...that was the hospital. They got the results, but my genetic markers don´t match."

"I´m sorry...but they´ll find someone who can help him." Gibbs said and put his arm around her shoulder, but she pulled back and looked at him.

"It´s not that...they...they told me my markers don´t match at all...they cross-checked my mom´s blood from the file, because it seemed odd to them. I don´t match hers either..." She said and looked at him, new tears rising into her eyes. "They´re not my biological parents, Gibbs...they never told me." It was finally out and he could see how much it had cost her to tell him. Her dark eyes were filled with questions.

He hesitated for a moment, then hugged her. "I don´t know what to say...You know I´m terrible at these things." He confessed, but still held her. Usually, Gibbs avoided close contact to other people and some even said he was unable to have feelings at all, but he just liked to keep a certain distance.

After recovering from the shock, Kate tried to find her real family, but all authorities seemed to put rocks into her way. She hadn´t gotten an answer from anyone she asked. At that point, she had asked Gibbs for help, who had written to a friend he knew from the marine corps, now working for the pentagon with access to many national archives.

Current time

Gibbs had read the letter at least four times, but still, he felt like he was caught in some nightmare. He looked down into the bullpen where Tony was trying to get a tuna sandwich from Kate, which she defended. McGee was watching them and all three of them seemed to have fun. He didn´t want to interrupt them, after all, it was one of the few days Kate was laughing nowadays. Her dad´s condition was still critical and he knew how much she cared about him, inspite of the fact that he wasn´t her biological father.

Turning back to the office, he still couldn´t believe it. He reached for his phone and dialed a number, but after it rang only once, he hung up again. Gibbs had never talked about all that had happened and he wasn´t sure how to deal with this new situation. He picked up the letter, closed the door and sat down on the windowsill. "Dear Jethro, I have searched for the information you asked me for. Unfortunately, it took me quite a while to get some answers and that´s why it took me so long. I hope these information will still be of help to you. Sincerely yours, David Rogers." He read out loud and smiled a bit. He hadn´t seen Rogers for a long time, only talked to him on the phone once in a while. Still, they shared the memory of a fateful mission to Croatia, 21 years ago.

He turned the page over and found an extract from a database. "Given name: Caitlin Todd. Date of birth: unknown, set July 23rd, 1978. Place of birth: unknown, set Washington DC, USA." These information were followed by a brief history and explanation for the unknown data and assumptions. For many years after he had returned from Croatia, he had asked himself what had become of the little girl. Today, he finally knew.


	3. Roots

Katya Chapter 3: Roots

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

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Kate was sitting at her desk when her phone rang. The caller ID told her it was Gibbs. She looked up to where she had seen him just a moment ago, but he was gone. "Yes?" She answered the call and wondered where he had gone.

"Can I talk to you for a moment? I´m in McHugh´s old office, next to the elevator." He told her briefly, but from the sound of his voice, she knew something was up. She confirmed and told Tony to stay away from her desk while she was gone. Of course, he would take the chance to poke into her privacy, but somehow, she didn´t mind today. Her PDA was locked up in her drawer and her sketch pad was in her car. Since he had showed it around once and almost gotten her into trouble with Gibbs, she never took it inside the office anymore.

Gibbs was waiting for her, sitting on the windowsill with a letter in his hand. "Have a seat." He told her and she obediently sat down. "I got an answer from my friend at the pentagon today. It´s still your choice whether you want to know everything or if you decide not to know about it." He looked at her and Kate could see something in his eyes she had never seen before. For the shortest of a second, the look on his face sent a chill down her spine. She was closer to knowing about her roots than ever before, but for some reason, it made her nervous.

"I want to know where I come from, Gibbs." She told him and braced herself for whatever came now. Maybe he would reveal to her that her parents had abandoned her in some filthy street or that her mom died or something like that. For a moment, a part of her wanted to run out and hide from whatever was going to come now, but she kept her eyes on him and waited.

"All right then. You can tell me stop any time, if you don´t want to go on." He took out the letter again and started to read it to her. For some reason, he didn´t want to do this, but it was her decision. "Birth name: Katya. Family name: Unknown. Date of Birth: Unknown, year 1978. Place of birth: Croatia." He stopped and looked at her. There were tears in her eyes and she had her hands locked around the armrests of the chair, but she wasn´t saying anything yet. Gibbs knew that the next lines would be the hardest part, for both of them, as they revealed a bond none of them had been aware of all these years. "Found buried under debris in the town of Tivatira on August 17th 1981 by L. J. Gibbs of the US marine corps. Brought to Washington Navy hospital for treatment, diagnosed with amnesia, adopted by Dr. William Todd and Mary-Ann Todd of Washington. Renamed Caitlin after adoption."

He stopped reading and put the letter down. The tears in her eyes were now rolling down her face and he could see an expression of disbelief and horror on her face. She tried to say something, but not a single sound came out of her mouth. Gibbs saw the shock in her eyes and felt tears rising into his eyes as well. He squatted down next to her and put his hand on her arm. "I didn´t know, Kate...I really didn´t know." He told her and watched for a reaction. The sun was shining through the half drawn curtains, creating a peaceful atmosphere of some kind. For a short moment, Jethro wished that he would have never gotten that letter. He knew that this moment would change something for her -and for the team as well. Maybe it was selfish to think like that, but who could tell?

Kate just stared into thin air. She had no feeling for time and space anymore. His words echoed in her mind, again and again, but she couldn´t make sense of them. She felt his hand on her arm, but she couldn´t move. Slowly her vision started narrowing down to a long, grey tunnel.Without a sound she blacked out completely while her mind was trying to process the new information.


	4. Friends in difficult times

Katya Chapter 4: Friends in difficult times

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

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Gibbs saw her eyes roll back and quickly caught her before she could hit the ground. He checked her vital signs and found them weak, but steady. He carefully lowered her onto the ground and took his phone out. "Ducky, I need you at McHugh´s old office, pronto." He said and hung up without letting Mallard ask any questions. A few moments later, the doctor came in. He closed the door quickly when he saw Kate lying unconscious in Gibbs´ arms.

"What happened, Jethro?" He asked and started getting into his medical routine. His eyes widened when he heard the whole story. "It is not surprising she´s got such a shock then. I will give her a little injection to let her sleep. You should arrange a transport to take her home, she will be asleep for at least 10 hours. Someone should stay with her." Ducky told him and took a syringe out.

Gibbs knew that he would have a ton of questions to answer later on, but right now he didn´t care about their puzzled looks as he carried Kate out to the parking lot. Nobody said a word and no one followed him. He got Kate settled in the back of his car and put a blanket over her. He had taken the keys from her desk and drove to the apartment building she lived in.

After putting her onto the couch, he looked around, realizing just how little he knew about her. Of course, they were colleagues and knew this and that about each other, like that she was a very gifted artist and could draw wonderful pictures. He didn´t know she was playing the piano, but there was one sitting right next to the TV. Gibbs let his fingers run over the dark wood and smiled as he pictured her sitting at the piano, a soft melody coming from the instrument.

"Stop it, Jethro." He scolded himself when he noticed his thoughts drifting off. "She´s one of your team, she´s not like Sarah or Gabrielle or Flora." His mind told him, but as he watched her sleep, he couldn´t help noticing how beautiful she was. He found some coffee in the kitchen and helped himself to a large cup. Afterwards he sat in an armchair, watching Kate. She was sleeping peacefully, but he knew that was only due to the meds Ducky had given her.

His phone started ringing and Gibbs walked into the kitchen to answer it. "Gibbs." He said and checked out the fridge in the meantime.

"This is Tony, uhm...there was a call for Kate from the hospital, but she forgot to take her cell phone. Can I talk to her?" Dinozzo asked.

"She´s sleeping right now and I don´t want to wake her up. I can tell her to call you back when she wakes up though. Or should she call the hospital right away?" He asked and reached for a box of pasta that stood on the top shelve.

"They just wanted to tell her that they found a donor for her dad, so maybe just tell her that. Tell her I hope she´s better soon. It´s awful to get sleep deprived and a flu on top of that. Ducky told me. Anyway, see you tomorrow, boss." Dinozzo hung up and Gibbs had to smile. Mallard was brilliant, not only as a doctor, but also when it came to keeping secrets. Kate wouldn´t want anyone to know what was going on.

Jethro put the pasta back and returned to the livingroom. The blanket had fallen to the floor and he carefully put it back over her body. Instead of returning to the armchair, he sat down on the couch next to Kate and pulled a strand of hair out of her face. She smiled slightly and he smiled back, though she didn´t see it. As it was getting darker outside and he decided to close the curtains. Walking through the apartment, he noted how clean and tidy everything looked. Kate´s desk was a mess most times, but as it seemed, she preferred to keep things simple in her private life.

He was looking at some paintings on the wall, when a sound startled him. He walked back to the couch and saw that she had opened her eyes. She seemed disoriented and looked at him. "Gibbs...what..." Kate started, but her voice cracked. He handed her a glass of water and sat down across from her.

"How do you feel?" He asked after she had sat up. Her movements were a bit uncoordinated, but Ducky had warned him this might happen.

"My head hurts...what happened?" She asked and looked at him. For a moment, he wondered if he should tell her right away, but then decided to let her rest for the night before bringing the topic up again.

"That can wait until tomorrow. Ducky gave you an injection after you collapsed at the office. Just take it easy for now." He took the glass from her and put the blanket back over her shoulders.

The look on her face was now confused. "I collapsed? I mean...I don´t remember anything." Kate said and felt helpless. She had never experienced something like this before. She remembered going to work and joining Gibbs in an empty office for a talk, but after that, she had a complete blank. Her heart was beating like mad and she started feeling dizzy again.

Jethro noted how the color drained from her face again and forced her back down onto the couch. He pulled the blanket over her body and their eyes met for a moment. "We can talk about that tomorrow, but for now, you need to sleep. That´s an order, Special Agent Todd." His eyes told her that he accepted no objection.

Kate sighed and closed her eyes. She felt much better lying down, but she wouldn´t admit it -especially not in front of Gibbs. "Yes, Sir." She replied and opened her eyes again for a moment. "Can I go to the bedroom though?"

He nodded and watched her sit up. At first, she seemed to stand stable, but a moment later her knees gave way and she fell back onto the couch. Gibbs smiled. "Ducky told me that´s normal. It´s just a side-effect of the meds he gave you." He said and lifted her up a second later. She tried to object, but he didn´t even take notice of it. Over in the bedroom, he put her onto the bed and walked back to the door. "I´ll sleep on the couch for tonight, just in case you need something. Good night, Kate."


	5. Facing reality

Katya Chapter 5: Facing reality

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

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The smell of fresh coffee woke Gibbs the following morning. At first, he wasn´t sure where he was and jumped up. He looked around and his eyes found Kate, who sat in the armchair with a cup in her hands. She smiled and handed him another cup that had been sitting on the table. "Morning, boss." She said and he noticed that she sounded a lot better now.

"Morning. Feeling better?" He asked and took a sip of coffee. She just nodded, then looked at him.

"Gibbs...what you told me yesterday...is it true? I mean, you said they adopted me and... and that someone found me as a young child or something." Kate felt a cold chill running down her spine as she remembered bits of their talk the day before.

Jethro put the cup down and tried to sort his thoughts before he told her again what was in this letter. He decided to leave out his name though, as he felt it might be too much at once. When he finished, she just looked at him. "So that´s why I have those scars on my legs...it wasn´t from falling down some stairs. But... I mean, this marine who found me...do you know who he was?" Kate asked and kept watching his eyes. She could tell that he was hiding something from her. For a second, she remembered that it had been him to had taught her to read in other people´s eyes. Now she was using it against him. "Who was he, Gibbs? I just want to know who saved my life. Even if he´s dead or something..."

He took her hands and sighed. "The name of the marine was Gibbs." He said and saw a puzzled look on her face. "I was in Croatia with my group to secure the area when they attacked the village. We tried to help, but almost everyone was dead. That´s when I found you beneath the debris of a house."

She closed her eyes for a moment and her hands started to tremble. "You found me?" She asked and he nodded. "Why didn´t you tell me?"

"I didn´t know. I just knew that you were adopted by someone from the hospital. I moved on and ended up at NCIS, but I never found out anything. Not until yesterday." He hesitated for a moment and then got up. "I need to get back to work. I don´t want Fornell to get on my back for rooming in with you. Will you be okay or shall I send Tony over?" He said and started to put his shoes on, which stood beneath the couch..

Kate still sat on the couch and tried to make sense of what he had just told her. After a few seconds she made a decision. "I want to come along -just give me a minute, okay?" She hurried into her bedroom and grabbed some fresh clothes. Only a few minutes later she was ready and walked up to Gibbs. Kate knew he was her boss and a part of her told her that she was making a mistake, but she ignored this feeling and just hugged him. She felt safe for some reason and just stood there for a few seconds before she finally pulled back. She didn´t dare looking at him and walked to the door, but he caught her arm and forced her to turn around.

Jethro felt the blood rushing through his body and tried to make sense of what was happening. He looked at Kate, who tried to get away, but he didn´t let her. "Kate..." He said, but she looked to the ground.

"I´m sorry, Gibbs. I don´t know what made me do that..." Kate felt herself blush and opened the front door. "Uhm...we should get going, right?"

Gibbs just nodded and walked out to the car. When both sat inside, he looked at her again. "Well, you´re much faster getting ready than Dinozzo... Oh, speaking of him: Tony called last night when you were asleep. The hospital called on your cell phone. They got a donor for your dad. Forgot to tell you, sorry." He added and suddenly, there was a huge smile on her face. "If you need someone to talk, just let me know. I believe, you got my number." He told her as they were walking into NCIS headquarters half an hour later.

Kate walked into the bullpen where Tony was talking to McGee. Both men turned around. "Hey, Kate. Feeling better?" Dinozzo asked and cracked a smile. "Sleep depriviation and flu don´t mix, huh? Ducky told us after Gibbs took you home. Where´s our boss-man at anyway?"

"Uhm...don´t know. Did you check the coffee bar next door?" Kate replied and felt relieved that no one seemed to know the true reason for the events of the day before. "If he comes by, I´m at the lab for a second. Gotta check something with Ducky." She walked to the elevator and leaned against the cool wall when the doors closed. For some reason, she just wanted to roll up in a corner and cry, but she knew she couldn´t afford this right now. The doors opened again and she walked into the morgue.

Ducky was standing at the section table and looked up when he heard steps behind him. His face lightened up and he put his gloves away. "Good morning, Caitlin. I take it, you are feeling better today?" He said and led her into his office.

"Yes, I do. Thanks for keeping quiet about yesterday, Ducky. I really appreciate it." She told him and he smiled.

"I figured that you wouldn´t like Anthony bragging about this story." He took a good look at her and frowned a bit. "Still, I do think you are looking a bit under the weather. Are you really feeling all right?" Mallard took an educated guess and estimated that she was still suffering from shock, but knowing her quite well, he knew she wouldn´t admit it.

"I´m fine, Ducky, really. Just a bit tired. I´ve got to go, thanks again." Kate headed for the elevator and tried to keep her back straight. She had to deal with this herself, but she finally realized how hard it was to face reality. A part of herself knew that she would always belong to the family who raised her, but another part of herself was curious about her croatian heritage.


	6. A different world

Katya Chapter 6: A different world

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

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Almost three months had passed since Kate had found out about her past. Her father had recovered and was at a private clinic for further treatment now. He had told her about her adoption and what the situation had been like in those times. She had come to terms with what had happened, at least with most of it. Her colleagues had learned about what had happened, though they neither knew how she found out, nor did they know about the bond between her and Gibbs. When they were at work, he treated Kate no different than any other, but when they got off duty, they seemed like two different people. It was a special friendship that had developed, but both knew it would never be more than just a friendship.

In late November, Kate took two weeks off from work. She had been planning this for some time now. Together with her three colleagues, she had collected a lot of information about the village she had been found in. Now she sat in a plane headed for Croatia to finish dealing with her past once and for all time. Ducky had advised her to take this trip because she was still absentmindetly at times, which was dangerous in a job like hers.

The air was very humid and hot when the car door opened, eventhough it was only barely after sunrise. Kate had spent the first night at a hotel near the airport and had set out early to visit the village she had been found in.She paid the taxi driver and looked around. There was no real road, just a sandy trail, barely wide enough for a mid-size car to drive on. She coughed as the dust got into her lungs and continued to look around. The village was very small and some of the buildings were just ruins, probably never rebuilt after they had been destroyed. It was unbelievable that there were people living here. A young man walked up to her. "Can I help you?" He asked in broken English and she was amazed that there was someone who spoke English at all.

"Uhm...yes. I´m looking for someone who can help me find someone. You see, I lived here when I was a child, but then left. I would like to know if there´s still someone here, who is related to me." Kate told him and he seemed a bit puzzled.

"Wow...that´s difficult. Tivatira was destroyed about 20 years ago and almost everyone died. My dad told me -he used to be around here almost all of his life. Do you have a name or something?" He asked and led her towards a low wooden building.

"I´m not sure...I don´t think so." She said and walked into the house. There were some books with names and dates, but she found nothing at first. In the second book, she came across some announcements -some for weddings, others for deaths. Her finger stopped over a name. "Who is this?" She asked and pointed the name out to him.

He read the line and frowned slightly. "Katya Srdic...She´s one of the children who died in that attack 20 years back. Her mother was gone to visit a relative in a neighboring town. She came back the next day, but everyone was dead. They never found a body, but they assume that it was burnt. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought, I might know her...Is her mother still here?" Kate asked and felt tears rising in her eyes. She looked at the birthday and realized it was way different from hers. They had just taken some day as they had no idea of when her real birthday was. May 23rd, 1978. She made a mental note to change that after returning to the US.

"Sorry, she died five years back. She was the last one of the family, if I remember correctly. I need to go, if you need something else, just ask for Gregorio." The young man said and left.

Kate looked at the book and ran her finger across the words. "Katya Srdic..." She whispered and smiled a bit when she heard the sound of that name. It sounded strange in her ears as did the whole language she heard the people speak around her. She closed the book and put it back. There was a cemetery near the old church. Kate walked through the lines of stones and then stopped at a flat one. "EkatarinaSrdic, born June 1st, 1959-died October 6th, 1998." She read and just stood there for a moment.

The world here was so different from everything she knew. Everything she had ever known in her life. This was a foreign country for her and Kate knew that even if she still had relatives here, she would never stay. She didn´t belong here. Realizing this, she felt stupid for taking two whole weeks off for this vacation. Before she had learnt about her family, she had thought it would make a difference in her life, but now she knew it didn´t matter. She was just a line insome old book here, but in Washington, she had a life, a job and her friends.


	7. Dobro sam

Katya- Chapter 7: Dobro sam

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

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Only 10 hours later, Kate stood in front of the airport in Washington. It was after midnight and the airport was deserted. She shivered and pulled her jacket closer around her body. Her car was locked up in the garage of the airport -it would open again the following morning around 5 am. Kate sat down on a bench, right in front of the terminal and looked up to the sky. Snow was falling slowly and covered everything with a soft, white blanket. As she sat there, the tears finally started to fall. She felt relieved somehow, inspite of the cold and the long flight. For a moment, she considered calling Gibbs, but then she realized just how late it was.

The wind was icy and cut through her jacket like it wasn´t even there. Kate shivered and pulled her cell phone out. She flipped through the entries and tried to decide whom she should throw out of bed. Tony was probably clubbing anyway -it was Saturday night. With a slight smile, she wondered whether McGee was sound asleep in his bed, snuggled tightly against a stuffed bear. For some reason, she saw him as a little brother and the picture just stuck on her mind. Abby was probably out at one of her cemetery sessions, she always did that on weekends. It left only Gibbs then, but Kate had no idea if she should really dare to call him.

While she was still considering her options, her cell phone suddenly started ringing. Caller ID told her it was Gibbs, much to her surprise. "Yes?" She answered the call and wondered why he called her.

"It´s kinda cold sitting on that bench, isn´t it?" He said and she could hear a slight smile in his voice. Kate jumped up and spun around, looking at the road that lead to the terminal. She didn´t know why she hadn´t seen the Sedan earlier, but now she recognized the car and started to wonder how he had known.

The headlights flashed on and the car drove up until it came to a stop in front of her. "What were you trying to decide? Whether to throw me out of bed or freeze to death?" He asked and smiled at her when he got out to open the trunk for her. There was this different side of him again.

"What happened to the second b?" Kate asked as she sat down on the passenger seat. He handed her a cup of fresh coffee before he helped himself to a sip from his own cup. The coffee warmed her hands and she was glad to have escaped from the frosty bench in front of the airport terminal.

"I have a special place right at the front door where I put that every night. If I need to go out again, I can always take the backdoor and leave that b where it´s hanging. I guess it´s just something that´s a work-thing for me." He replied and put the cup back into the cupholder that was attached to the dashboard. Gibbs smiled and drove towards the freeway ramp that lead into the city center.

Kate finally recovered from the surprise and looked at him. "How did you know?" She asked and could see one of his I-know-everything-smiles on his face.

"Let´s just say I have certain connections. Besides, I was wondering why the GPRS chip in your cell phone was suddenly travelling across the atlantic ocean at quite some speed." He smiled and pulled over to the exit lane.

For a second, she wasn´t sure if she was glad or if she wanted to hit him. "You bugged me? Gibbs!" She crossed her arms in front of her body and looked out of the window. For a few minutes, there was silence between them.

Gibbs pulled up into the driveway of the apartment building and stopped the car. "What do you expect? I can´t just let you fly somewhere you´ve never been. Besides, Croatia is not really the safest place, even so many years after the actual war ended." He said and got out to get her bag from the trunk. When she started to walk towards the entrance, he caught her arm and made her look at him. "How are you feeling, Kate?"

She smiled at him. "Dobro sam, Gibbs. I´m fine now."

End


	8. Author´s note

Author´s Note:

Due to the positive reactions to the story, I am going to continue the line I have taken here in another story. I guess you could call it kind of a sequel. The title is "Only Human". Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope you will like my other stories too.


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